Mansfield Men’s 1st XI 4 – 4 Derby Asterdale Men’s 1st XI

More than a creditable draw as Derby show their class.


In a game that should have been as one sided as Liverpool v Northampton (lol) Derby went to Mansfield last night in their penultimate pre-season game with a squad of only 8! and after borrowing some selected Mansfield 2’s players they set about gaining a fantastic result.

With Mansfield undoubtedly the favourites having played last season in the Midlands Premier League, 5 divisions higher the Derby, things didn’t start too well as Mansfield took the lead after 10 mins with a fine reverse stick shot, but with resilience and power being the order of the day from Derby they soon came back into the game with a well taken goal from Nick after just 16 mins.

The game was stretched from the off but the constant thorn in Mansfield side was the pace and power from the Derby front pairing and the strength shown at the back.

Derby though couldn’t keep out there illustrious opponents for too long though as again a well placed move out of Mansfield midfield saw the ball eventually get into the circle and a scrappy tackle led to a penalty corner which was duly despatched as no Derby player closed down the Mansfield striker who just calmly picked his spot.

Mansfield 2 - 1 Derby

But…………..

With Chris and Nick up front Derby’s pace was always going to be an issue to the Mansfield back line and so it proved as 2 goals in just 10 mins saw Derby approaching ½ time 3-2 up and Mansfield start to loose their cool and shape.

Again though just before ½ time Derby conceded a PC and failed to clear as Mansfield – much to their relief – scored to send in the teams 3-3 at the break.

A quick chat from yours truly and a slight change to tactics saw a huge change in the match as Derby came out firing on all cylinders and put Mansfield totally on the back foot for the next 20 mins.

Superb breakouts from defence and running like his life depended on it from Rambo led to Nick and Chris creating chance after chance as they constantly broke into the Mansfield ‘D’ but just couldn’t convert their opportunities due to some last ditch tackling from the Mansfield back line. Chris did take his chance though on 47 mins to send Derby into a 4-3 lead and slump Mansfield to their knees.

On 53 mins a well worked PC should have been converted by Derby but a slight delay in the final execution saw Mansfield able to clear their lines and with Chris unfortunate to miss a sharp chance on 58 mins just 2 yards out from goal, Derby could have been away and gone.

Mansfield did however draw level on 60 mins after a quick breakout with a scrambled finish after the keeper had failed to clear the ball, but it was undoubtedly Derby who were the stronger team and deserved the win.

Final score

Mansfield 4 – 4 Derby


Summary

Great performance from Karl and the boys, if a full 1st XI had been available I believe we would have won the game. A fantastic display from Nick & Chris up front, and with Rambo being the undoubted workhorse of the night with fantastic stamina, persistence and distribution it shows what they are capable of.

The guys should take this performance into Saturdays game and remember just how and why they got the result today.

From what on paper should have been a 5 or 6 goal defeat we were unlucky not to have scored 5 or 6 of our own and certainly unlucky not to have gained a win.

Great performance guys.